Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
9/12/00
Contacts:
Paul Lasley, Extension Sociology, (515) 294-0937, plasley@iastate.edu
Jim Pease, Extension Animal Ecology, (515) 294-7429,
jlpease@iastate.edu
Del Marks, Extension Communication Systems, (515) 294-9807,
delmarks@iastate.edu
Farmers Say Alternative Livestock Enterprises Fill Important Niche
AMES, Iowa -- As profits are being squeezed for producers of traditional livestock in Iowa, some farm entrepreneurs are turning to alternative livestock production, according to the 2000 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll.
Although the number farmers marketing animals such as fish, goats, pheasants or buffalo is a small percentage of the total number of livestock producers in the state, there is an important niche market for some producers, said Paul Lasley, Iowa State University Extension rural sociologist who directs the poll. Jim Pease, extension wildlife specialist who collaborated with Lasley on the survey, was interested in not only how many producers are already involved in alternative livestock enterprises, but also how many producers might be interested in starting such a business.
Among about 3,000 farm operators who responded to this year's poll, the largest alternative livestock enterprise was the production of fish, reported by 113 farmers. Other species reported by significant numbers included pheasants, 75 producers; quail, 59 producers; and goats for meat, 25 producers. The sample contained between 10 and 25 farmers that produce buffalo, fallow deer or other non-native deer, foxes and minks, llamas and snapping turtles. Fewer than 10 farmers were raising elk, emus, ostriches or rheas.
Pease noted that while these are small numbers, it was pretty much what he expected to find. "It will take time for many of these alternative livestock enterprises to catch on, and in some cases they may never prove profitable, but it is important that we have some understanding about the number of producers involved and what we might do to help encourage new producers."
Horses were not covered as an alternative livestock category in the poll, but one farmer from Marion County suggested "we'd all be better off with a good team of Belgian horses and a walking plow."
Although this is the first time the Farm and Rural Life Poll has asked about alternative livestock enterprises, some farmers have been in the business for many years. Producers of buffalo have an average of 11 years experience, producers of fallow deer have an average of 14 years and producers of foxes and mink have been raising those animals for an average of 30 years. Lasley noted that most of these enterprises are still in the infancy stages, and because they are so new there is not a lot of information about them. "However, as more farm families seek alternative income sources beyond traditional crops and livestock, these new species may have an important role to play," he said.
Farmers not currently involved in alternative livestock enterprises were asked to indicate their interest in becoming involved. Twenty-seven percent indicated they had some interest in producing pheasants, 24 percent some interest in quail and 21 percent some interest in fish. The proportion expressing some interest in alternative livestock generally ranged between 5 and 10 percent. While these are small percentages, Lasley and Pease note that this is a significant level of interest to warrant more resources being devoted to alternative livestock enterprises.
Supporting those views are the comments from a Sac County farmer who wrote, "encouraging alternate (enterprises) would help reverse the consolidation of agriculture at both the producer and processor level. A few labor-intensive highly lucrative ventures, crop or livestock, would put some sanity back into the farming communities and give those communities a prayer of surviving."
A summary report containing all findings obtained through the survey is available from Iowa State University Extension. It can be ordered through local county extension offices or from the Extension Distribution Center, 119 Printing and Publications Building, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011-3171, phone (515) 294-5247, e-mail pubdist@iastate.edu.
The Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll is funded by ISU Extension and the Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station. The purpose of the poll, conducted since 1982, is to ask farmers' views on a variety of rural and agricultural issues. Questionnaires were mailed in February to 4,977 Iowa farm operators selected at random, with 3,049 replying, yielding a 61 percent response rate.
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